I hope that our statement
gives people a clear illustration of our approach, and how we expect the
Society to play its part in confronting some of the key psychological and
social challenges. We realise that these are large, complex issues, and we
understand that a press release has, alone, little practical impact. But I hope
our choice of words gives an insight into our values.

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At the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Week 2015 the
British Psychological Society's Presidential team has called on the government
to recognise the impact of war, poverty, social divisions, inequity and the
abuse of fundamental human rights on psychological health, and to do all that it
can to combat these evils.

The team is made up of Professor Jamie Hacker Hughes, the
President of the British Psychological Society, President Elect Professor Peter
Kinderman and Professor Dorothy Miell, Vice President,

Their statement reads:

To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, we call on the
government to recognise the impact of war, poverty, social divisions, inequity
and the abuse of fundamental human rights on psychological health, and to work
to protect citizens’ mental health through addressing these problems.

Too many people, especially women and children, are
traumatised by war and armed conflict. We must work actively for peace, and we
must extend both humanitarian care and the hand of friendship to people
escaping from conflict zones.

We know that psychological health and wellbeing are largely
dependent on our social circumstances. Especially in this period of economic
austerity, we must work collectively to create a more humane society: to reduce
or eliminate poverty, especially childhood poverty, and to reduce financial and
social inequality. We need to work harder to promote peace, social justice and
equity, and ensure that citizens are properly fed, housed, and educated, and
living in a sustainable natural ecosystem.

To promote genuine mental health and wellbeing we need to
protect and promote universal human rights, as enshrined in the United Nations’
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Because experiences of neglect,
rejection and abuse are hugely important in the genesis of many problems, we
need to redouble our efforts to protect children from emotional, psychological,
physical or sexual abuse and neglect.

Equally, we must protect both adults and children from
bullying and discrimination: whether that is racism, homophobia, or discrimination
based on sexuality, gender, disability, ‘mental health’ or any other
characteristic. We can all do more to combat discrimination and promote a more
tolerant and accepting society.